London – A new drug can help return adult cholesterol to levels more likely to be seen in a baby, significantly reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Alirocumab has been nicknamed the "Pac-Man drug" because it "gobbles up" the protein in the blood that prevents the liver from mopping up so-called bad cholesterol. It could be among the most important drug developments to tackle bad cholesterol since statins were introduced, said Professor Kausik Ray, who is leading the drug's trial in Britain.

In more than a third of people already taking cholesterol-lowering statins, Alirocumab all but eliminated dangerous blood fats called lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, a global study of almost 2400 people found. This significantly reduced their risk of suffering heart attacks and strokes. In people unable to take statins, Alirocumab halved LDL cholesterol.

"Alirocumab, when used alongside a statin, will dramatically lower cholesterol," said Professor Ray. "Around 40 per cent of people who took it saw their levels reduce to that of a newborn. It is likely to reduce your risk of heart disease as it will lower LDL cholesterol; however, these are still adult bodies. The risk isn't going to be abolished. People are not going to be immortal."

He described the drug as working "a bit like a Pac-Man", a reference to the '80s arcade game where the Pac-Man character travels around a maze eating pellets. "It gobbles up PCSK9," he said, referring to a protein that prevents the liver from using up LDL cholesterol.

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A total of 2338 patients who had suffered a heart attack or stroke, or were at risk of increased cholesterol, took part in Professor Ray's trial. Of these, 788 were given a placebo and 1550 given Alirocumab and a statin. Participants injected the drug bi-monthly.

More than a third of the 1550 saw their levels of LDL cholesterol fall to less than 0.7 mml per litre of blood, the same level as a baby, within a year. 

"It is the biggest reduction we've had since statins were introduced," Professor Ray added, explaining that trials were ongoing.

The news follows a poll that found two thirds of GPs in Britain are refusing to comply with controversial NHS advice to prescribe statins to millions more adults. Family doctors said guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice), advising 40 per cent of adults to take the pills, were "simplistic". They insisted they would not allow the "mass medicalisation" of the public.

The guidelines, published in July, say drugs to protect against strokes and heart attacks should be offered to anyone with a one-in-10 chance of developing heart disease within a decade. It means that 17.5 million British adults, including most men older than 60 and women aged 65 and above, are now eligible for the drugs.  

The Daily Telegraph